Mumbai police have arrested a businessman from Ghaziabad named Nitin B for allegedly sexually harassing an actress on a Delhi-Mumbai flight. The accused was taken into custody on October 14 on the basis of the FIR lodged by the 40 years old actress at Sahar police station under sections 354 and 354 A of IPC.
The victim belonging to Mumbai narrated the incident stating that she had gone to Delhi in connection with some work. After finishing works On October 3, she boarded an IndiGo Airlines flight (6E6387) flight to return to Mumbai. The flight aircraft landed at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai at around 11 am. She told the police that when she stood up to collect her luggage from overhead storage, she felt a strange touch on her body. She looked back and saw that a stranger had grabbed her from behind by the waist and pulled her towards him. As she reacted angrily the man apologized and explained that he had not realized that she was a woman as he thought it was a male co-passenger.
However, the actress didn’t believe him, and she said, “How can someone just grab a woman and then try to dismiss it, saying he thought it was a male passenger? It’s ridiculous!”
The cabin crew staff also rushed after she raised alarms. Staffers on the board asked her to lodge a complaint with the customer relations department of the airline. In between, cabin crew staff also asked the male passenger to stay back. They further demanded that he reveal his name and seat number. That passenger revealed his name as Rajeev and shared details of his seat. Later on, she sent an e-mail to the airline demanding details of passengers on board. She also narrated the incident with her.
Responding to her e-mail, the airline said that details of passengers can’t be shared with any individual and she should lodge an FIR. She first approached Versova police station. But she was advised to visit Sahar police station since the airport area falls in the jurisdiction of Sahar police station, where the FIR was finally lodged under various sections of IPC. Treating Rajeev as an accused, Sahar police contacted the airline for details of Rajeev and other passengers which the airline quickly provided.
But when the police contacted Rajeev, he clarified that he was not involved in the incident. He sent photographs of himself and his co-travellers to the police so that the police could verify the identity of the suspect with the victim. The photograph proved crucial in the investigation, as when it was shown to the victim she identified another passenger, Nitin B, who had allegedly molested her. After identification, his name was added to the FIR and he was summoned for questioning.
He was arrested after questioning and produced before a local court at Bhoiwada. Now the police have requested the court to record the statement of the victim under section 164 of CrPC.
According to a media report, she revealed that the wife of the accused and a male member from that family had approached her to withdraw her case. She said that a male member from the family had visited her residence and requested to withdraw the case.
